California High Speed Rail Project Triples in Projected Cost, Won’t Be Ready for 22 Years
**Written by Doug Powers
In 2009, Joe Biden, the Conductor of the Train to the Future, gave California’s high speed rail proposal his full support. Subsequently, $2.25 billion of the money for California’s rail construction came from the federal stimulus — a drop in an ever expanding bucket as it turns out.
From Mercury News by way of JWF:
Faster than a speeding bullet train, the cost of the state’s massive high-speed rail project has zoomed to nearly $100 billion — triple the estimate given to voters and more than enough to run the entire state government for a year.
What’s more, bullet trains won’t be up and running until at least 2033, much later than the original estimate of 2020, although that depends on the state finding the remaining 90 percent of the funds needed to complete the plan.
The new figures come from a final business plan to be unveiled by the California High-Speed Rail Authority on Tuesday, though some of the details were leaked to the media, including this newspaper, on Monday. Officials at the rail authority did not respond to repeated requests for comment Monday.
Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday was expected to endorse the long-awaited plan, the first major update to the project in two years and the last before the federal deadline to begin construction next year. But state legislators, who were already skeptical, will tear through the plan starting Tuesday before deciding whether to start building, or to kill the project.
The new business plan pegs the price tag at $98.5 billion, accounting for inflation — more than double the estimate of $42.6 billion from two years ago, when it was already the priciest public works development in the nation. It’s a little less than triple the estimate of $33.6 billion voters were told when they approved the project in 2008.
If the projected cost of the California project has tripled just since 2008 and construction hasn’t even started yet, imagine what the cost will be by the time it’s finished — if the state (and country for that matter) hasn’t gone beyond bankrupt by then.
Politicians in other states have been offered federal money for high speed rail projects, run the numbers, and said “thanks, but no thanks.”
**Written by Doug Powers
Twitter @ThePowersThatBe
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Weeeeee Doggyssssssssssss, the Unions have a Gravy Train on Biscuit wheels with this adventure into bankruptcy, but not before the Unions have bled this dry.
Once upon a time there was an engineer
Choo Choo Charlie was his name, we hear.
He had an engine and he sure had fun
He used Good & Plenty money to make his train run.
Charlie says “Love my Good & Plenty!”
Charlie says “Really rings my bell!”
Charlie says “Love my Good & Plenty!”
Don’t know any other money that I love so well!
Too bad. Looks like the illegals will still have to walk.
Biden: Murder will continue to rise, rape will continue to rise, all crimes will continue to rise, if I don’t get more money to make these trains run on time! So don’t screw with me!
And what are they going to get for that hundred billion dollars and the 22 year wait….?
Aren’t they already linked with that new invention called a super highway…?
So they want to spend a 100 billion dollars,seize countless acres and property by eminent domain no doubt and creates some huge new state Bureaucracy with thousands of new state employees with huge salaries and pensions for what….?
So maybe 10,000 people a day won’t have to use their car ?
What a deal.
Is it time for bho to do another eo to demand that train get finished by 2031? bho just loves his handy little gold eo pen doesn’t he?
L
A fool and his money are soon parted.
i guess we just need to ask the chinese if they like this train, since paying for it might require selling off a state or two to china.
I guess under this pResident “Social Justice” is the name of the game so… Not only will a fool and his money be soon parted, but we will take it from the wise men too! That will make everything better for everyone!
Heh! In 22 years I’ll be taking my solar-powered roto-copter to work!
Do we get to vote? I recommend CA and WA! No offense to the conservative residents that live in those States, but ain’t much chance you will ever get Giverment there to see the light.
As a bonus this is the State it would service until the next earthquake.
What’s next? Ox carts?
Epic Stupidity.
I went to the website of the project and saw the below. It’s really pretty convincing, doncha think?
The high-speed train represents the state’s commitment to environmental responsibility, better mobility and jobs for Californians.
The high-speed train will be a legacy to California’s future.
Reaching our goals will take vision, leadership and commitment.
The High-Speed Rail Authority is collaborating with local, state and federal agency partners to identify solutions that deliver the most public benefit with the least negative impacts.
Large projects are always challenging and complex. This is why we are committed to working with the public to find solutions.
People are becoming engaged in this project in a whole new way. The timing is perfect and we welcome the public dialogue.
High-speed rail is a cleaner, safer and a more environmentally sound approach than building thousands of freeway miles or a series of new airports — and that’s why California voters supported high-speed rail.
At 261.8 million dollars a mile – it is a steal.
We need to get Obumble OUT of the white house before California goes bankrupt. Enough of my money has been flushed down this toilet, we shouldn’t have to pay for California’s share also.
If Californians want it, good for them. It is their choice. But they can pay for it; not the rest of the country.
And a consulting company got paid a few million dollars to write that swill. You could replace ‘high-speed train’ with ‘new office photocopiers’ and it would make just as much sense.
… And just like Jacksonville’s monorail, no one will use it, even if its “subsidized” by government. Here’s the deal: you never want to allow politicians and bureaucrats unlimited access to public monies as they have had for the last 40 years. They have no personal “skin in the game”, therefore they are taking no risk.
This means that all manner of goofy “progressive” ideas percolate to the top of the cesspool and find life on the taxpayer teat. Governments are notorious for dragging their societies down primarily because their motivations rarely conform with economic reality or public need. For these reasons alone, government must be severely curtailed to limit its natural tendency to damage economies and the social fabric.
Based on this model I recommend that California build a modern Tower of Babel. It would be fantastic, and just think how many jobs it would “create”! LOL.
Nice play on words! Just about everything they do seems to involve stealing, or as they like to call it “Redistributing”.
fiat dollars…. meaning toilet paper. Bernanke and Turbo Tim have the presses burning up the midnight oil. The recovery should kick in any time now….
High-speed rail is like caviar. If caviar was priced at $1.25 per gallon, no one would buy it. It’s an acquired taste… if the price is high enough.
I’ll bet that the train will be imported from an enemy country.
By the way folks. The carpet industry in N. Georgia is back to 2008-09 again. Don’t believe the “we’re in recovery” BS. It’s a lie. Cooking the numbers. And they are already attacking the latest Conservative lion in Herman Cain while furiously covering up the scandals of Obama and the rest of the Dem corruptocrats.
We are witness to the greatest comprehensive failure of free press government oversight in the history of the nation. This is almost beyond belief. From TARP to Solyndra et al to Fast & Furious to union payoffs, the criminal collusion and malfeasance are intolerable.
Ah! That could be the answer. Private luxury cars for the 1% (Just like in the old days of passenger railroad travel). As an added bonus the rail will be paid for by tax dollars! OWS will love it!
Time to pull the Plug(s).
I’m a Floridian, and our Gov. Scott was pilloried here when he turned down the stimulus funds for high speed rail. His estimates said costs would skyrocket and riders fees would never cover the operation costs. Gee…I wonder how many of our upset libs will now be writing a thank you note to Scott.
BTW, I left CA 8 years ago because it was clearly on a suicide path. I sure feel good about that decision!
It won’t be complete until it has sleeper cars that the Three Stooges can hide in to get away from the wild lion on board.
A flight from LA to SF is approx. $150 round trip.
A quick calculation says that you could fly 146k people, back and forth, per day for 12 years for the price of that rail.
It is a steal!
Another way of supporting a state that’s broke.
I can hear the cheers in Fargo from here.
Is this modern miracle powered by wind or is it solar powered?
Is this train going to be pulled by San Fran Nancy? I know I really didn’t have to say that.
Might want to include:
High speed rail will solve world hunger.
It will cure cancer.
It will put a chicken in every pot.
It will have a dining car that will serve free liquor and a smoking car that will serve free pot.
It will cost Californians nothing because of a brilliant government plan that will be released after the project is complete. You will have to wait and read it to discover all the wonderful benefits.
I REALLY didn’t need to picture San Fran Nan pulling a train… I threw up in my mouth a little. Thanks.
Quick question. Does the latest cost projection include the 22 years of Union labor costs? If not you know the cost will become even more significant.
I wonder how much a desalination plant costs? Nuclear power plant? Schools? Roads? Prisons? Teachers?.
Is a high speed rail designed to be used by a very small percentage of the populaton the best use of $100 billion?
That Obama is some prophet!
He said “there will be some winners and losers.”
Is this the Intercontinental Train that Oblamo was so excited about? Whoo hooo! All aboard!
Just send the bill to Warren Buffet – he’s already said he’s not paying enough in taxes!!
Stay tuned…
Next year the re-evaluated costs will be in. The price will then be $150 Billion and the date will not be in place until 2040.
The following year, unexpectedly, there will be another price estimate increase and further delays. The delays also fail to consider the environmental lawsuits that will filed.
This will continue ad nauseum until someone with half a brain in the California Assembly catches on. Ooops. Silly me. There are no indications of intelligent life in Sacramento.
#34 Excellent question. It’s less than 400 miles from LA to SF with 2 super highways between the two cities. There is a train, airports all over the place, and now they want to spend 100 billion on a high speed train. Can anyone really justify this expense when both California and the U.S.are both technically insolvent.
Another union slush fund at the taxpayers expense, ala “the big dig”.
The only segment of the California population that will embrace and utilize a low cost form of high speed transportation, is California’s illegal immigrant population.
Modus operandi: say that no subsidies will be needed to fund this. That means it WILL need public funding.
The people promoting this will say anything to get it going, then a revised estimate of costs will surface, which will indicate more public funding is required (higher taxes to follow.) Then, out come the sticky little hands. Of course, the accompanying demogoguery directed towards those who object to public funding will quickly follow.
The liberal Latino leadership in California has a very poor track record of financial stewardship. Nothing they have done has been for the mutual benefit of all Californians, but rather, targeted for the “poor“, which is code for Hispanic minority (soon to be Majority.)
A oft jaded individual might think that a high speed rail would mean more opportunities for criminals to ply their trade…you know, the multitude of felons ordered to be freed from prison by a liberal court?
Yeah, I’m not a fan. Could you tell?
In emphatic disgust, I have given up on the ability of California voters to demonstrate even a sliver of intelligence.
They are the sheep, and the Ruling Class politicians are the wolves.
And those wolves, of course, will not be riding that rolling albatross as it hits 180 MPH during a 7.5 earthquake (as most people won’t, once they stop to figure that out).
Al-Qaeda can just sit back, relax, and smoke more doobies, for the West is destoying itself.
And they’ll have to charge the train passengers around $150,000 one way if they’re ever going to break even.
Miami’s Metrorail was supposed to get 200,000 riders a day. Last time I checked, if there isn’t a concert, circus, or sporting event going on in downtown, they get only about 25,000 riders a day. Don’t they have highways and frequent flights between SF and LA?
Hey look!
It’s you people again, and you’re being stupid, again:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/la-pn-virginia-gop-obama-20111031,0,5702870.story
I just went to a travel sie, and I found plenty of non-stop flights between SF and LA starting at $148 round trip. How much will the tickets for this boondogle cost?
Dear ILMGA: Gee, are L’il Libby feelings all hurt again (?!?!)
Actually, that e-mail you sited is exactly how your Ruling Class birth-defects would look after riding Uncle Joe’s train during a California earthquake.
Back when they were seeking initial funding for this from the taxpayers, the
promoterssnake oil salesmen of this project gave the voters a rosy projection of how little it would cost, and that their itty-bitty tax increase would be all that was ever asked.Realists screamed from the rooftops that it, like any government project, would skyrocket in costs, and could never be finished in budget or on time.
But the ballot initiative squeaked through anyway, mainly because there are so many voters who don’t understand economics and reality. They just read the title of the bill and said, “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea… let’s build a high-speed train to make it easier!” They have no clue about economics or the true cost of projects like this, and are easily duped.
This project is going to make the Big Dig look like kids playing in a sandbox.
ILMC, I believe you would complain if the GOP made an ad that said BHO was a Democrat.
That was obviously made in holiday humor. Only a Zombie like you would be offended – and a few other Zombies in the GOP/Democrap party that dissed it.
Sounds like Sarah and the crosshairs all over again.
The Transcontinental railroad was built from Sacramento, Ca to Council Bluffs, IA (1587 miles according to mapquest), between 1863 and 1869. And according to mapquest it is 381 miles between San Fransicko and L.A.
Back in the 1860s they had to use manual labor to lay the rails and drive the spikes. Now we have machines to do that. Why is it going to take 3 or 4 times as long? To travel a third of the distance?
And back in the 1860′s people actually wanted to ride the train that far. Airplanes kind of made that option obsolete. OTOH, as difficult as TSA is making it to get on an plane now days, the train may actually be faster.
High speed trains will obviously need the same kind of security we have at airports.
This is insane. Democrats are evil. It is obvious.
But it would have been different here.
/lib
It takes around 5 hours to drive to SF from LA. Less if you don’t stop for pictures. As I understood the original proposal, this “high-speed” train would make stops. And of course, to get around at the other end you’d have to rent a car or pay local public transit fees.
Flight time is about an hour.
So, what’s the benefit? Oh, yeah, make-work jobs and tax-payer fleecing. Gotcha.
But hey, Hussein is in the house! (And ILMC is sleeping under the porch.)
Capt. Harris: Snakebite leader, Ripper Bravo Six, we’re gonna need you soonest be advised I’ve got zips in the wire down here, over!
Phantom Pilot: Roger your last Bravo Six, Snakebite lead we can’t run it any closer. We’re hot to trot and packing snake and nape but we’re bingo fuel. It’s your call, Six actual, Over.
Capt. Harris: Snakebite leader, Bravo Six, for the record, it’s my call. Dump everything you got left ON MY POS. I say again, I want all you’re holding INSIDE the perimeter. It’s a lovely f@#$ing war. Bravo Six Actual and Out.
Phantom Pilot: Roger your last Bravo Six. We copy it’s your call. Get em in their holes down there. Hang tough, Bravo Six we are coming cocked for treetops. Whiskey to Echo… Snakebite Two, this is lead. Last pass on zero niner. Watch my smoke to target, expend all remaining. Follow my trace…
22 years? What’s the point? We’ll all be flying around in Jetson cars by then.
On November 1st, 2011 at 11:19 am, Ilovemygerbil said:
Do you make these things up or is there a room full of SOROs monkeys feeding you these bits? I would guess that your payment for todays crap throwing is Hot Pocket Crumbs?
For an example of how stupid people are in California about modern rail projects, just look at the San Diego area “Sprinter”. It connects an inland valley area (Escondido) with the coast, a run of about 22 miles.
The cost of the project was $484 million, or $22M per mile.
There are 15 stops along the way.
The trains run every 30-60 minutes, less frequently than bus service on the nearby highways.
The maximum speed of the trains is 55mph, slower than buses travel on the nearby highways, and hardly worthy of the title “Sprinter.”
The course taken by the trains includes several sharp turns and S-bends to accomodate various impediments, such as existing infrastructure and terrain features. Because of these turns, the average speed is significantly less than the maximum of 55mph.
Due to the number of people who have been struck by the trains in the past 2 years, supervisors have further restricted the speed of the trains.
The “trains” are only 2 cars long.
Sadly, the people who end up being compelled to commit acts of destruction upon such a boondoggle could end up being the taxpayers themselves (via proxy, of course; which will hasten the day al-Qaeda transforms itself into a for-profit operation).
Their want-ads would read:
“Jihad will destroy whatever you wish in order to say you money; all we ask is a ‘small’ stipend — in the name of Allah.”
Just wondering what happened to the 2.25 Billion the Govt. ALREADY gave them? I mean they havent even started Construction yet.
This definitely will fail.
I live in the SF Bay Area and have family in LA and San Diego so I drive the corridor several times a year.
The highway 5 and 101 are fine and are clogged only once a year, the Sunday after Thanksgiving. The rest of the time you can cruise at 70-75 mph.
While I love trains and probably would enjoy the trip, even if tickets were cheap I almost certainly wouldn’t take the train.
Why?
Because once you get to SF or LA, you need a car!
This latest govt boondoggle of a black hole will make the infamous Boston Big Dig look like one of Moochelle’s spending sprees at Target.
Some when to the previously mentioned estimates of cost, some went to Union leadership in hopes of greasing the wheels of the high speed train, some went to the DNC, some went into the local Democrat party to assure eminent domain, some went to eviromental studies to make sure there was not an endangered gnat that may be affected,… etc.
These things ain’t cheap ya know! Gotta grease some palms (or sumthin’) in order to screw the tax payer
effectivelycompletely.Don’t know what happened in that last post, but the quote was suppose to be from #58.
Interesting….
in 2033 I hope to be sitting next to Mad mrcakes in a big V8 that drinks nitrous oxide, stealing gasoline from Wes and Humungous.
This stupid “high speed rail” got sold on dumb California voters the same way the Monorail Guy sold it to the gullible citizens of Springfield on “The Simpsons.” I heard the radio ads. More jobs! More revenues! No new taxes to pay for it (because taxpayers in Kansas, New Jersey, Georgia, Wyoming, etc. were paying for it)!
I know better. No matter what, they will be spending a gazillion dollars on environmental impact studies, NIMBY and tree hugger lawsuits, eminent domain lawsuits, hiring and firing contractors, labor disputes, etc.. Once it’s all said and done, if it ever finishes, I will likely be 100 years old and long since retired in another state. And no one will ride it because in 2011, you can fly from L.A. to S.F. in about an hour. A train system can never be that fast; it will still have to stop at every two-horse village along the Central Coast or Central Valley because the pols in those districts will insist upon it. The modes of transportation they’ll have available in 30-40 years down the line will be faster than any plane we have today. Why take five hours to get from one city to another if there’s a super plane or something that can do it in say 20 minutes?
The billions would have been far better spent to upgrade our interstates and airports.
On November 1st, 2011 at 12:14 pm, spaceycakes said:
in 2033 I hope to be sitting next to Mad mrcakes in a big V8 that drinks nitrous oxide, stealing gasoline from Wes and Humungous.
Because back then we were smart enough to let the Chinese build it.
I think Democrats are stupid, and I’ll offer this as exhibit “A”. Exhibit “B” will be the rail they are trying to build with your tax money here in Honolulu.
What is it with “progressives” and old technology? Why aren’t they breeding faster horses to save the Post Office?
oh, I’m not an Aussie. And maybe it won’t be gasoline–maybe it’ll be incandescent bulbs.
Wez: [after someone is killed] *No!* *No more talk!* We go in! We kill! Kill! We kill ‘em! They kill us, we kill them! Kill ‘em! Kill ‘em! Kill! Kill!
The Humungus: Be still my dog of war. I understand your pain. We’ve all lost someone we love. But we do it my way!
Wez: Losers… losers wait!
The Humungus: We do it my way. Fear is our ally. The gasoline will be ours. Then you shall have your revenge.
[Wez passes out]
The Humungus: Take him away.
[soldiers drag Wez away; Humungus grabs intercom]
The Humungus: There has been too much violence. Too much pain. But I have an honorable compromise. Just walk away. Give me your pump, the oil, the gasoline, and the whole compound, and I’ll spare your lives. Just walk away and we’ll give you a safe passageway in the wastelands. Just walk away and there will be an end to the horror.
[Soldiers start up their vehicles]
The Humungus: I await your answer. You have a full day to decide.
[Everyone drives away]
Max: (whistles loudly) You wanna get out of here–you talk to me.
This is so important in the discussion. People on the Eastern Seaboard will never fully appreciate that out west our cities are built outward with low population density. There is no mass transit system that can effectively move people around.
Taxis, buses and subways work in NYC because there are so many people concentrated with a few square miles. That ensure an economic viability. So getting from point A to point B is almost impossible without your personal vehicle.
Come to think of it, by 2033, the New Mexico Spaceport will have been up and operational for a while and suborbital flights will have become more routine. Virgin Galactic will be making flights from SFO to LAX directly.
The Gyro Captain: Lingerie. Oh, remember lingerie?
The Humungus: What a puny plan.
Oh this is good – Eric Cantor begging Obama for stimulus money.
How come you people support Eric Cantor?
http://www.politicususa.com/en/eric-cantor-begged-obama-stimulus
What is the likelyhood that the stations, and track, will be obsolete BEFORE a 20+ year project is completed?
I would also like to point out that this 100 billion estimate was actually in the ballot arguement of the bill that was passed. That arguement was called flawed and a total lie by the proponents of this project.
The proponents now have no idea what the cost of this project would actually be. There is no way to determine all of the effects of changes to the economy and technology over a 20 year period. They are simply grasping at any number to get the cash flowing into their friends pockets.
In California politics, it is ALWAYS about stuffing CASH into friendly pockets!
One need only look at the cost to replace the earthquake damaged eastern span of the SF Bay bridge. It started out at 600 million and is now at 6+ billion with the majority of components fabricated in China. By the way, that earthquake happened in 1989.
Hey Ma, this oatmeal poultice tastes pretty good!
What the heck, let’s call it an even trillion and go monorail.
None of these people should be in charge of spending our money.
You will be the Nightrider, the fuel injected suicide machine, the rocker, the roller, the out-of-controller!
I think you all are missing the point. The rail line starts in Henry Waxman’s district, and ends in Nancy Pelosi’s district, OK?
Great thread for you to post that on. Now we can all contemplate what’s stupider – a completely harmless Halloween prank, or:
As always, thanks for the perspective.
Hah, I thought you were going to say the rail line starts in Henry Waxman’s nostrils!
We all know how that ended.
‘whatever I say–what a wonderful philosophy’
–Toecutter
‘we’re gonna need a bigger boat’
–Brody
If you think $100 billion is going to be the end cost of this thing, think again. I’ve heard $200 billion.
Nobody will be able to afford to ride this piece of garbage.
Money would be better spent linking the South Bay to I-5 by improving CA 152, or making US 101 a freeway all the way to LA.
Seeing as how it is to be built in California, I’m surprised the locals’ reaction wasn’t more like “Whoa, kill the motor, dude. What’s the hurry?”
Humungus: [lines spoken offscreen, scarcely audible but coming up in subtitles, while Max is eating the dog food] Smegma crazies to the left! The gate! Gayboy berserkers, to the gate!
As was pointed out earlier…
A HIGH-SPEED (chortle) rail line in earthquake-prone California. WHAT COULD GO WRONG??!!
What’s fiscal responsibility?
Now all they need to propose is another line up to Suckramento and they are “… golden Jerry, golden!”.
Is it just me or does ILMC seem to have a wedgie up to his liver? The quality of the comments have degraded.
Either that or Doug is doubling down on his impersonation of a liberal.
I think what he meant was “Incontinent Train”, because it’s all BS.
I think this is just a ‘union worker perpetual employment project’.
They may as well just dig a 1000-mile ditch.
Then, when they’re done, fill it in.
Then, when they’re done filling it in, dig another ditch next to the first one.
Rinse, repeat…
I think they misspelled “enraged”.
Wez: The gate!!! THE GATE!!!
My brother and I have used that as a catchphrase for years.
Rush would say ILoveMyTeenyBrain is a “Glittering Jewel of Colossal Ignorance”. That sums it up for me.
Lucky, I only had a sister, she never played well with me. Always teasing me calling me ‘Cheddar Cheese!’ And she always beat me playing the card game ‘Old Maid’! Made me sooooo angry! And then there was the time she tried to drown me… (poip!) Er..um..but I digress.
Nah, those are for the tunnels.